The Gold Knight: 84th Academy Awards nominations

Tuesday morning, Jennifer Lawrence, Best Actress nominee last year for “Winter’s Bone,” joined Academy President Tom Sherak in announcing 10 of the 24 categories at a press conference at Academy headquarters in Beverly Hills, Calif.

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Despite “The Artist” having the most considerable “buzz” going into the nominations, Martin Scorsese’s 3-D adventure “Hugo” was the most nominated with 11, nominated for Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay. Although, “The Artist” did not fare badly, with 10 nominations — and the silent film will probably win more Oscars than “Hugo.” “Moneyball” and “War Horse” received six nominations, including Best Picture nods. The big surprise, to which there was a gasp at the press conferences, was “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” which was announced as the ninth Best Picture nominee.

Most Oscarologists did not think there would be that many nominees for the top prize, predicting anywhere between six and eight nominees. A rule change last summer implemented a voting system that can produce anywhere between five and 10 nominees in the Best Picture category.

Woody Allen received a directing nomination for “Midnight in Paris,” his first since 1994′s “Bullets over Broadway.” He has been nominated seven times in the category and won the Oscar for 1977′s “Annie Hall.”

Rooney Mara (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) is the only Best Actress nominee that has not been nominated for an Oscar before. Meryl Streep, on the other hand, received her 14th nomination in the Best Actress category, for playing Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.” Streep, having a total 17 Oscar nominations in her career, has won two Oscars — a Supporting Actress Oscar for 1979′s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and a Actress Oscar 1982′s “Sophie’s Choice.”

Jonah Hill (“Moneyball”) is the only first-time Oscar nominee in the Supporting Actor category. Meanwhile, Janet McTeer (“Albert Nobbs”) is the only Supporting Actress nominee with a past Oscar nomination — for 1999′s “Tumbleweeds.”

We are 33 days away from the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, at 5:30 p.m. PT, which will be televised live on ABC. The Red Carpet arrivals show, extended to 90 minutes like last year, will begin at 4 p.m. PT.

Toledo Free Press Lead Designer and Film Editor James A. Molnar blogs about all things Oscar at TheGoldKnight.com.

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